Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Bruce Wayne is called for a jury duty on a court case of Mr. Freeze and a major plot conspires to personally hurt Batman.

Bruce Wayne is selected for jury duty as he is one of the most prominent citizens of Gotham City in a case against Mr. Freeze where he is responsible for the death of three young women and he admits charges after Batman got involved. Although he claimed that the vigilante hero used excessive force on him but the media won't just listen to him.

Stumbled by his morality, Bruce questions the methods his alter ego takes as The Dark Knight and begs to differ when the rest of the jury decided to vote the King of Cold guilty. All of those three women appeared to die of natural causes but Batman discovered a mild temperature drop on their brain that was later confirmed by GCPD as well.

After finding a connection to his ice-cold nemesis, he confronted Victor Fries and constantly beat him to get a confession. In the mean time, his trusty sidekick and closest friend Dick Grayson puts on the cowl and check on him while fighting Killer Croc.

Freeze claims that was experimenting on those women to find a way o revive his wife and even though all evidence suggests that, Bruce asks his fellow jury not to side with The Bat just because many of them feels obliged to him for saving their life. Instead, he asks them to act as responsible citizen of Gotham and accept that the hero could be wrong too.

Batman – Cold Days | Comics

Grayson recollects how during his early days as Robin following the death of his parents, Bruce always tried to support him. Dick wonders how his partner can still be depressed after fighting villains like Condiment King and Crazy Quilt for years. They bonded over their interest on acrobatics and he still remembers how he used to hate cucumber sandwiches.

A stranger with a prosthetic arm by the name Mr. Zimmerman comes to Gotham on business. He checks in on a hotel and then goes to buy a gun before making a stop at a hot dog place where he left a napkin with a message that hints at the Joker/Riddler War. He then goes to an apartment block to set up a sniping position from a top room.

The Dynamic Duo was out fighting minions of a new villain called Phantom Pharaoh while Nightwing was making cheesy puns like always. They then meet Commissioner Gordon on the roof of GCPD Headquarters who informs them about the clue and a one-armed man. Dick makes another joke about it before getting shot in the head.

After making the shot, the man leaves Gotham and heads back to his meet his abusive alcoholic father in Russia. He sits with his old man for a drink while reminiscing events of his childhood filled with memories of his father's abuse. Batman has assumed the identity of the shooter being Anatoli Knyazev AKA KG Beast, the dreadful Soviet scourge.

His butler Alfred Pennyworth asks to apprehend the Russian assassin and the Caped Crusader then meets Bronze Tiger for a clue to find the Beast as he covered his tracks well. The leads took him to Apokoliptian assassin Kanto who reveals that Anatoli has a father that is still alive and Batman eventually finds way to Vasily Knyazev's cabin.

Vasily had an argument with his son about him still being weak and ho he is left with an amputated arm because of his boyish nature. A final showdown between the Detective and the Beast ensues outside the cabin and somehow, all of these fiascos are tied to the court case Bruce Wayne was involved in regarding Mr. Freeze.

Someone is playing the World's Greatest Detective from behind the scenes by involving Bruce Wayne into a case against Mr. Freeze and then sending Soviet assassin KG Beast after his ward. Following the live-action debut of the character, Anatoli Knyazev has received a better treatment on the Prime Earth reality rather than his New Earth counterpart.

Reference of "The War of Jokes and Riddles" was made and it suggests that either Riddler or some new player is almost directing Batman towards something. It is almost like the time when he was being played out by a mysterious enemy in "Batman – Hush".
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Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Following his marriage proposal to Catwoman, Batman leaves Gotham City on a quest of renewal and redemption.

When Batman proposed to Catwoman on a rooftop after being inspired to be happy in life by his father from an alternate timeline, they decided to come clean to each other about their past. She explains how she ended up at Arkham Asylum for accusation of murdering 237 men of a terrorist group.

It was her close friend Holly Robinson who actually committed the crime and Selina took the fall for her knowing she will eventually be saved by The Dark Knight when she will be sent to a death row for this mass murder.

So, they decided to travel to Khadym for a fifteen hour long journey though an unforgiving desert seeking redemption. They loses one of their horses and Batman comes to a former partner of Dick Grayson from his time as an agent of Spyral who goes by the name Tiger King of Kandahar for his help to reach his destination.

Since political interference and involvement of super-heroes are not welcomed there, he had to find a guy with enough intel to make an entrance to Khadym and Tiger reluctantly agrees to help them.

Batman – The Rules of Engagement | Comics

Back in Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth finally discloses regarding this illegal mission of his and about Bruce recently proposing to Ms. Kyle to his surrogate family of young vigilantes, which struck them all in awe.

While Duke Thomas and Jason Todd starts blaming each other for not being able to stop him from marrying her, Damian Wayne accepts this to be his fault and Dick Grayson tries to comfort him. Superman makes a call to Alfred informing of an unauthorized invasion in Khadym and Justice League is on their way.

Upon arriving at their desired end, Tiger is stopped by the Guard in the Desert, who turns away heroes and villains from entering. He refuses to allow entry for Batman and Catwoman decides to confront the Guard, which didn't end quite well for him.

As the three of them enters, Talia al Ghul is informed of their arrival, to which she asks to prepare her swords. They are surrounded by her men whom are ordered to tire them to exhaustion, something that the duo realized fighting the Silent Soldiers of the Pit for a while.

The Demon's daughter then comes swinging her swords at her ex as he tries to reason with her about their visit. All they want is to talk to Holly Robinson and then leave but knowing Selina Kyle is going to be his wife soon, Talia stabs him in jealousy.

Catwoman then picks up a sword to fight the former lover of her betrothed to a standstill unless one of them falls. When their ledger on Khadym is finally closed and done about, the Bat and Cat are about to go on a rare double date with Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

"The Rules of Engagement" is released in 2018 from DC Comics, consisting issues #33-37 and Annual issue# 02 of the third ongoing monthly volume of Batman comic-book series.

Super-Friends for Life

As World’s Greatest Detective decides to tie the knot with one of Gotham City’s notorious thieves by giving in to their mutual attraction, lives are changed. Though his son and current Robin, Damian does not like the idea of his father marrying someone else other than his mother Talia al Ghul, he remains unfazed.

Members of the Bat-Family are a bit skeptical about this decision he made but they all are coming to terms. The two-part backup story explores many unseen shades of the friendship Batman shares with the Man of Steel and how both of these finest heroes are always corrected by their better halves.
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In a war between The Joker and Riddler, The Dark Knight tries his best to save Gotham City from burning down.

Following Batman's debut as a vigilante on Gotham City, he successfully decreased the increasing crime rate of the city by putting many super criminals behind bars. During the second year of his crime-fighting, one of his archenemy named Red Hood One came back and became known as The Joker.

He went on a senseless killing spree of comedians who was unable to make him laugh and no one could figure out why. Commissioner Gordon tried to apprehend the madman but more civilian died as well as his own men during his attempts.

Stuck inside of GCPD, master strategist and evil genius Riddler had became a means to solve crimes for them. Thinking he has solved the riddle of Joker's massive killings, he decides to escape and he did so by threatening the confronting group of guards of knowing about their loved ones.

He finds Joker and suggests that they team up to beat Batman together as the clown has lost the ability to laugh because of always being halted by him. The Joker shot him in the stomach after dismissing the idea and left him for dead.

Batman – The War of Jokes and Riddles | Comics

Batman came in slightly late to stop this and chased Joker knowing Riddler will survive the gunshot wound. It was from that moment when Edward Nygma started amassing super-villains to fight by his side against the maniacal clown.

Evil that inherited Gotham has parted into two and started ripping each other. Joker tells Carmine Falcone over phone to kill Riddler but when his men failed to do so because of the intervention of Poison Ivy, the clown took out all his men and operation as well before killing his mother Carmen.

A common criminal and former associate of The Joker named Charles Brown is approached by Batman to be a mole in his former boss's gang and set up a meeting. That plan flipped when Riddler figured it out and had him abducted by Clayface to confront about it and he also told this to Batman.

The meeting was a mess and Joker sends him to Batman wired with fake explosives while Riddler poisoned his son. With that tragedy becoming a motivation, Charlie eventually become the Kite-Man and thus, a new villain is born.

By then only Catwoman haven't joined any sides and as Gordon approached the villains for a truce, all they wanted was Batman. Deadshot and Deathstroke were sent to kill the Bat but they got busy trying to kill each other with the causality of 62 civilians in five days.

Batman finally managed to stop them and got Floyd Lawton hospitalized in a fit of rage. He then plans to do something that even the Riddler never saw coming and the endgame of his decision would made him what he is today.

It all begin in issue #24 of the third ongoing volume of Batman, where The Dark Knight finally proposes Catwoman to marry him and before she can answer, he decides to let her know of an event that no one else knows about. Writer King took a unique approach in exploring Batman's early years with two of his arch-nemesis on his tail.

Joker Vs. Riddler

The storyline collects issues #25-32 from the third Batman monthly series from DC Comics and features appearances of the villains including Clayface, Cluemaster, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Firefly, Killer Croc, Kite-Man, Mad Hatter, Man-Bat, Mister Freeze, Mister Zsasz, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Solomon Grundy, Two-Face and Ventriloquist, aside from the two main antagonists.

Even though the story is told in the DC Rebirth era, the events of the book actually took place not long after the infamous "Zero Year". Coincidentally, that is also the rising point of both The Joker and Riddler in the Prime Earth continuity.
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When reality was being remade, Batman found a strange smiley-face button in Batcave that opens doorway to a twisted alternate timeline.

In Arkham Asylum, inmates were watching a hockey game between the Gotham Blades and the Metropolis Mammoths, when suddenly at one point a woman among them starts irrationally shouting with the claim that one of them is about to die and even Superman will not be able to save him.

She kept screaming about the death of her friends and a Legion as she was being taken away. In Batcave, Batman was also observing the match from his Batcave while studying the Comedian's bloodied smiley-face button on his hand.

Ever since "The Return of Wally West", Batman and The Flash are trying to uncover the origin of the Button with no luck so far. He tossed it on his desk and it drops near Psycho-Pirate's Medusa Mask, creating a small spark, which The Dark Knight didn't notice.

Then it creates a bolt and Bruce Wayne sees Thomas Wayne of the Flashpoint timeline for a moment like a shadow but he quickly faded away as Bruce tries to reach out to him. He informs Flash about this development, who was busy fighting the Samuroids and says he will meet The Bat within a minute.

Batman & The Flash – The Button | Comics

Before the minute passed, Bruce hears a thunder and thinking its Barry, he turns around only to be punched out by the villainous Reverse-Flash. Eobard Thawne has been known dead for some time but somehow, he is back to life by a mysterious force.

For the next 50 seconds, Batman desperately tries to tackle and delay Reverse-Flash till Flash's arrival to no avail. As he gets his ass handed to him, Batman still fights back and tries to slow him down for a while. Eobard discovers the letter that Thomas wrote to Bruce and then tears it to pieces to taunt him some more.

Batman warns him to leave his cave before halting him for a while till the minute passes and then is beaten out-cold. Seeing the Comedian's Button on the desk, Thawne picks it up and is teleported away immediately with a flash of light. He came back only mere moments after with his flesh severely burned and bones out, shouting that he has seen "GOD" before dropping dead.

The Flash arrived just late enough to save the Caped Crusader from a ruthless beating and missed the demise of his nemesis Reverse-Flash. Johnny Thunder was calling out for Thunder-Bolt and was ranting that how he was responsible for the fall of Justice Society before being taken back at his elderly home by the orderlies.

Meanwhile, Barry set up the Batcave as a crime scene after Batman's fight with Thawne. He realizes that what Thawne started years earlier with killing his mother has come to an end with his death even though justice wasn't served. Upon examining Thawne's remains, Barry realizes that they both have same Speed Force signature, whereas it should be different.

Since all the cameras of the cave were destroyed during the fight, he decides to talk to Bruce about it. When Bruce tells him of seeing Thomas Wayne from Flashpoint world, Barry blames himself for all these mishaps but Bruce then points out Thawne seeing a "GOD" means, there was already someone powerful messing around with the time and reality.

Not willing to endanger the life of his friends, Barry decides to fire up his Cosmic Treadmill to go back in time to see who really killed Eobard Thawne. At the last moment, Bruce shows up and tags along against Barry's wishes. The two eventually travels back to the timeline where Thomas Wayne became The Dark Knight!

The story-arc took place on the third ongoing volume of Batman monthly series and the fifth monthly ongoing series of The Flash back-to-back, published by DC Comics on 2017. The presumably long-dead villain Reverse-Flash is brought back with a twist and the Watchmen connection to the post-Rebirth era is also showcased.

Plus, the original Flash, Jay Garrick makes a cameo appearance to make it all very special. The plot serves as a prelude to upcoming "Doomsday Clock" event, which will unfold a lot of mysteries and answer a lot of questions.
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Tuesday, September 5, 2017

In her attempt to recruit Doctor Hugo Strange and the second-string villain Psycho-Pirate into Task Force X, Amanda Waller accidentally set them free. Strange then unleashed his Monster Men on Gotham to wreck havoc on the city (Night of the Monster Men) and Pirate to critically affect the psyche of young super-hero siblings Gotham and Gotham Girl (I Am Gotham).

Though her brother did not survive in the end, Gotham Girl was suffering from a phobia that only Psycho-Pirate could save her from. So, Batman took it upon himself to assemble his very own version of Suicide Squad with several key-individuals from Arkham to raid the island of Santa Prisca and kidnap Pirate, which he did upon confronting his dreaded enemy Bane.

Batman – I Am Bane | Comics

Since, Bane brought Pirate to cure his own life-long addiction to the Venom serum, he decides to come to Gotham and break everyone Batman cares about after this. So, at Superman's Fortress of Solitude, Batman put Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin into a suspended animation for their own safety.

Meanwhile, Alfred escorted Gotham Girl at Arkham Asylum under the disguise of a criminal and forces Roger Hayden to start her treatment with Psycho-Pirate's Medusa Mask. Bronze Tiger is taken down at his own hotel room, Bane's accomplice Bird shoots down Catwoman, then Trogg and Zombie tries to sneak attack on Commissioner Jim Gordon, only to be taken down with the aid of Duke Thomas.

Eventually, they all end up getting captured by Bane, who asks for Psycho-Pirate in exchange for their lives. In Batman's stern refusal, a furious Bane charges at him with the full power of Venom and savagely beats him to a pulp while they both recall their struggle as kids.

In his last ditch attempt to stop his unstoppable enemy, Batman lured his nemesis into Arkham Asylum and freed all of the super-criminals to stop Bane. But can they really stop the man who doesn't fear anyone and once broke the Bat?

After the events of "I Am Suicide", he is joined by artist David Finch (Brightest Day, Forever Evil) again to draw a conclusion to his third venture with The Dark Knight and one of his most feared enemy there is. When this all ends for good at some point, Batman and Catwoman have some personal scores to settle among themselves that will surely change the life of these two forever.

An Unstoppable Challenge

Also this story features the huge roster of many Batman villains like Amygdala, Black Spider, Calendar Man, Copperhead, Doctor Phosphorus, Firefly, Flamingo, Hush, Mad Hatter, Man-Bat, Maxie Zeus, Mister Freeze, Scarecrow, Solomon Grundy, Two-Face and Zsasz. Whether they were the heavy hitters or the bottom-feeders, all were destined to fall in front of the vengeful spirit that Bane came as.

The storyline collects issues #16-20, 23 and 24 from the third ongoing monthly volume of Batman comic-book series that will continue his ventures up next in "The War of Jokes and Riddles", featuring The Joker and The Riddler.
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